Trying to Make Sense of New Study

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Trying to Make Sense of New Study

February 22, 2011 09:04 PM

Henci,

While recognizing that Australian medical authorities and
government officials are notoriously repressive when it comes to
women's autonomy in childbirth, I was disturbed to hear of this
recent study on home births in Australia:
http://ama.com.au/node/5275

Among the claims are that babies are 7 times more likely to die
in planned home birth than hospital birth and 27 times more likely
to die from asphyxiation in home birth.

As with all studies on controversial issues, this one has had at
least one critic come forward to deconstruct it.
Unfortunately, I'm not a BMJ subscriber, so I can't access this
rebuttal:
http://www.bmj.com/content/340/bmj.c826.short?rss=1&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+bmj%25

Because there's little talk of this study in the U.S., I was
curious to hear your thoughts. I've home birthed two babies
safely. But on the surface, I find this disturbingly
compelling.

Thanks,

IM

Henci Goer

The study you are looking for is Kennare et al.
2010. You can find a critique of the study
here. I think it will satisfy your concerns. In addition, my
co-author on the forthcoming new edition of Obstetric Myths Vs.
Research Realities, Amy Romano, took the lead on the home
birth chapter. She points out in the chapter essay that
"Three out of the four
perinatal deaths occurring in labor or after birth among normally
formed babies . . . occurred in cases where the parents
were advised against planning home births but refused or delayed
hospitalization, and in at least one case a prior poor experience
with hospital birth contributed to this refusal." When women
are so traumatized by their treatment in labor that they refuse to
risk a repeat of the experience, who deserves the blame for
that?

~ Henci

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